now they're the new normal for republicans. they're mississippi style north dakota style alabama style laws. they kept saying the war on women thing is something that the republican party was going to repent from after the 2012 election. it's just a new front opening all the time. the republican part was going to repent on. it's just a new front. "first look" is up next. good thursday morning. on "first look," real and clear danger. secretary hagel has new threats. they are ready to launch a new attack. connecticut lawmakers approve tough new gun control measures and the governor will sign them into law at noon. new technology is helping moms bond with their babies. alzheimers costs more to treat than cancer. queen elizabeth gets a multimillion dollar pay raise. hours ago, connecticut state

legislature passed the toughest gun control legislation in the country. it cleared the house after hours of what was respectful and somber debate. earlier, they approved the sweeping bill. requires background checks for all firearms sales and bans the sale or purchase of magazines. the bill goes to governor dannel malloy. north korea is ramping up saying their military is cleared to attack the u.s. using smaller lighter weapons. it's responded by deploying a missile system to guatemalan. jim is in south korea. jim, it appears the situation is escalated day-to-day. >> you are right. in that message, clearly meant for u.s. consumption, they spoke

of deploying what they are calling mobile nuclear devices to strike the united states. the latest threat was conditional. this time stopping what north korea called war games. it sees it as a rehearsal for an invasion. this comes after kim jong un, the young leader reactivated a moth ball plutonium reactor. for the second day, barred south korean workers from the north to punch in at the industrial park, the only joint venture. intelligence suggests the north moved a medium range missile toward a long sight, to the east of us. this kind of missile has yet to be tested. it could hit u.s. targets as far away as guam. in reaction, the u.s. is beefing

up antimissile defenses on guam saying they are taking the threats very seriously. here in seoul, south korean students we have been talking to said they are more concerned about final exams than a war hearing these threats all their lives. kim is too weak and too broke to launch a war. they are worried and accident or miscalculation could trigger something. back to you. >> we will watch very closely. jim, thank you. also, this morning new leads in the shooting death of the colorado prison chief. police are looking for two members of white supremacist member games. the spi-year-old thomas and james are not being called suspects. officials are saying their names surfaced during the investigation. both are members of the prison gang, 211 crew.

ebel was killed by authorities last week. he's accused of kill iing tom mcclem men. they say the move will not stop the case from moving forward. president obama was in colorado drumming up support for gun control legislation in the wake of sandy hook massacre. it's a measure that's been stalled on capitol hill. the president praised their gun laws and appealed to the gun owners spelling out what his plan does and does not include. >> if there are any folks out there right now who are gun owners and you have been hearing somebody is taking away your guns, get the facts. we are not proposing a gun registration system. we are proposing background checks for criminals.

>> the president met with local law enforcement leaders. here is your "first look" of scrambled politics. some are taking action on gun reform, there's no action from washington. rachel maddow appeared on "late night with david letterman" and says the inaction from congress is baffling giving common sense moves everyone can agree on. >> if you are on the terrorist watch list, you can buy a gun. you can't fly, but you can buy a gun or explosives. >> sit in the lobby and clean your gun, but you are not getting on a plane. >> can we move on that? >> hollywood celebrities give their voices to a documentary marking the 50th anniversary of president kennedy's

assassination. two children of former president ronald reagan are at odds about same-sex marriage. patty says her father would have been puzzled and supported marriage equality. his adopted son appeared on cnn and said same-sex marriage could lead to polygamy and bestiality. >> i think it sends a slippery slope. if you accept the redefinition of marriage, you have to reaccept it all down the line. alabama lawmakers have strict laws for abortion clinics. it's similar to recent ones in north dakota and mississippi requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. rand paul heads to new hampshire. he holds the first in the nation presidential primary. after a public spat, bob

woodward sat down for lunch with gene sperling. dan pfeiffer says they had a good laugh and smoothed over their friendship. earlier this year, woodward suggested sperling took an over confrontational e-mail. before we look at the national weather, bill, you have to check this out. >> i don't want to see anything. >> oh, yeah. video of snow. >> i want a picture of miami beach. >> we want you to get rid of this white stuff. slick roads yesterday morning. >> that looks lovely. >> tell me -- >> sandy, we had the nor'easter. that was early november. november, december, january, february, march, now we are in april. six months of snow. >> can you fix this? >> you need winter gloves this morning. in oklahoma of all places, now into april, we have rain

changing to sleet and snow outside oklahoma city. very, very rare. that's one of the wet spots. if you are in the southeast, you got soaked yesterday in the golf. now you are watching the rain in tennessee and northern alabama, south carolina in the green, it's light rain filling in. later on this afternoon, watch out, you could get strong storms. here is how we are looking. the chill is out there. as far as the rain goes, we could see in the next 48 hours up to one to two inches of rain from norfolk down to southeast portions of georgia and south carolina. notice the cut offline, new york city expecting a tenth to two tenths inches of rain. not a lot. as far as the forecast, windchill 20s and 30s down to atlanta and dallas. it's a chilly thursday across the country. in some cases, it's rainy. not only is it chilly, but raining. in georgia, they are freaking

out. good thing the masters isn't this week. we need to flip the switch. middle of next week, i have that promise coming to you. >> look at this video. a tribute to '80s ar kate games using post it notes. 4800 of them. it took 11 days to shoot the still images that make up the video. he describes himself with too much time on his hands. >> i love donkey kong. >> post it notes. obama is giving uncle sam back some of his salary. news for nfl fans and 2 million cars recalled because of air bags. does it seem like carnival cruise lines has a black cloud over their ships? most people think that after an accident,

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some stories making news, president obama will give up his annual salary of about $25,00 o. defense secretary, chuck hagel announced a similar move this week. alzheimers has become the costliest disease with a tab of $215 billion last year. it's more expensive than drugs and medical treatment. one man is still missing in the river after the "triumph" broke loose yesterday. overseas where flames engulfed a hotel and apartment building. amazingly, no one was hurt. it took some 300 firefighters to put out the blaze. more eruptions from etna.

it is the 19th eruption in less than two months. president obama is taking a pay cut. britain's queen elizabeth is getting a raise. $54.5 million. no word if she'll increase prince charles' allowance. good morning, jackie. >> good morning. futures higher this morning after stocks suffered their worst day in a month on disappointing economic data and escalating tensions with north korea. look today for unemployment. that will be significant. heads are rolling at lululemon. the chief officer is leaving after they were forced to pull a pair of black pants because they were too see through. face book is expected to unveil

is smartphone today. 8 million people access facebook on their phones each month. >> great, there's so many already. on the retail front, samsung is setting up minishops inside best buy stores. rumors are swirling that apple has its own tv in the works, a 50-inch set you control with hand movements. hyundai and kia are recalling almost the million vehicles to fix problems with air bags and brake light switches. a disturbing report finds $700 million federal dollars is unaccounted for to help people from the flood. louisiana homeowners have not carried out the necessary work or did not provide proof it was

done. the nfl is giving ticket buyers a little more bang for their buck. they will install cameras in the locker rooms to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek. for all your tailgaters, you are going to miss out on the extra footage. moms bond with newborns with technology. more u.s. troops head to afghanistan and sports caster bob costas channels his inner ludicrous. you have to see this. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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leading the news this morning, north korea's threats to the u.s. and president obama's 5% giveback, joining me is bob franken. good morning, bob. >> good morning. >> problems are escalating. the u.s. is paying close attention to all of this. is this something -- where are we headed with this with this hard waer being moved around. >> caller: the hardware is a defense system. it's a mobile defense system which they are planning to move to guam because of the threats. all of this is signaling sophisticated diplomatic signaling. you have the defense secretary talking clear and present danger. clear and real danger, which is diplomacy. the problem is, you have heading

up north korea, a kid, somebody who is really getting his footing. the big problem everybody worries about is a miscalculation by him. >> the president made a personal gesture toward the sequester giving back 5% of his $400,000 salary. is this a good idea or a pr stunt? >> caller: it certainly is a pr stunt and he would be the first to admit it. the only difficulty is there might be ridicule attached to it when you consider the fact he gets all kind of benefits for being president of the united states. >> thank you for joining us. thank you. >> caller: thank you. there's other news going on around america. we start in new york city where a woman was shocked to find her underwear stolen from the drier by a stranger. the thief eagerly runs away with her personal items.

in mobile, alabama, a tearful good-bye as they head off to afghanistan. they will spend training time at ft. hood before participating. a los angeles hospital has a new way for moms and babies to develop a special bond. infants are now able to connect with their mothers remotely thanks to ipad face time. they have the apt to spend time even when they are apart. an annual brunch fit for a sing on the street. they parades past fans to the brunch buffet set up just for them. it's a lot of food. in sports, 13 faculty members are calling for the resignation of the rutger's president for the mishandling of the rutgers coach.

he used homophobic language to the players. he apologized for what he did. >> my family who is sitting in their house just huddled around because of the fact that their father was an embarrassment to them. >> most people were outraged over the behavior seen in the video. a former player voices support for him. >> i feel like it's moving in the right direction. as the years progressed, we learned how to challenge the intensity of practice. >> disgraced cyclist lance armstrong is expected to return to competition. the events are not covered under the same drug testing rules. the star of the baylor

women's team sounds interested in the chance for playing for the nba. her response, when do i show up for tryouts after mark cuban said he might draft her. bubba watson was on "morning joe," his son went right to the tv when he heard his father's voice. she said it was one of the sweetest things i experienced as a mom. bob costas was asked about his favorite rapper. ludicrous was the first to name check him in a rap song. >> i'd be rolling torpedos for a hefty fee among your record like bob costas. it was at that point -- it was at that point, boys where if i stepped off a curb and got hit by a bus, it's be all good.

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now to entertainment news. "late night" host jimmy fallon will take over for jay leno. leno said i hope you are as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you are the old guy. sambora missed dates because of substance abuse. madonna announced she's

selling a painting worth $7 million to help fund school programs in pakistan and afghanistan. tom cruise promoted "oblivion." they learned to pour the perfect pint. an honest and self-proclaimed lindsay lohan fan made a mosaic of lindsay lohan made of garbage. a five second tease for a big announcement this morning at 9:00 a.m. check it out. >> hmm. >> what do you think it is? >> it better be something good. if it's like here's my tour date, buy tickets, i will feel abused. >> it's got to be something big. it's going to be a big letdown.

>> i want jimmy fallon to bring "the tonight show" back to the east coast. i'd be an easy guest. i just walk up to the studio. >> this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, everyone. way too early starts right now. as you probably heard, it was announced officially today that starting in february of next year, after the olympics, i will take over as new host of the tonight show on nbc. i spoke to jay on the phone today. excuse me one second. okay. apparently it's a different jimmy that's going to be hosting. are we sure?